Selling online? Remove photo metadata first

Listing photos are almost always taken at home. If the original file still has its GPS location, you may be handing out your address alongside a photo of something valuable.

Why sellers are at risk

• Location. Phones save GPS coordinates in each photo by default — accurate enough to identify a house.
• Timing. The date and time can show when you're usually home, or when you're not.
• What's in the picture. Combined with a location, a photo of an expensive bike, camera or console tells someone exactly what's inside and where.

Don't marketplaces strip it?

Many large marketplaces remove metadata from the images buyers see, but not every site does, and it's easy to end up sharing the original anyway: when a buyer asks for more photos by text or email, when you post in a community group, or when you list on a smaller site or forum. The only way to be sure is to clean the photo yourself. See which apps remove metadata.

Clean your listing photos → Select several at once. Nothing is uploaded.

A safe routine for listing photos

1. Take your photos as usual.
2. Open PhotoSoap and select all of them at once.
3. Check the list: PhotoSoap shows any location it found in red.
4. Download or share the clean copies, and use only those in your listing and in any messages to buyers.

Other ways to protect your address

• Check the background: house numbers, letters with your address, street views through a window, car number plates.
• Meet in a public place for local pickups.
• Turn off location for your camera if you mostly take photos at home — here's how on iPhone.